GDHQNHL15_2pg-Edmonton Oilers 2

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The other defensive options
feature players who simply did not
distinguish themselves as players
who could stop opposing offenses
or at least turn the puck possession
battle in Edmonton’s favor. Players
like Jeff Petry, Martin Marincin,
Nick Schultz, and Mark Fraser were
simply not up to the task of filling
what was a huge void on this team.
To make matters worse, the
forwards largely consisted of
young players who have not quite
learned the nuances of NHL defense. Unlike players such as Jonathan
Toews and Anze Kopitar, who have mastered the two-way game, players
like Taylor Hall and Jordan Eberle remain mostly offense-only options.
Everything culminated in a defense that was simply badly overmatched
and often overwhelmed.
It doesn’t appear that much help is on the horizon either. The one
defenseman Edmonton acquired in free agency was Nikita Nikitin,
formerly of the Columbus Blue Jackets. Nikitin enters in a similar
situation to Ference – a decent defenseman who will have to fill the role
of go-to defensive stopper, a role he’s probably not well-suited for. With
the arrival of Nikitin and another year of experience, it’s hard to see
Edmonton’s defense being quite as bad as it was last year. At the same
time, it’s hard to see Edmonton’s defense being something other than a
bottom five unit either.
Goaltending
Devan Dubnyk quickly became the scapegoat for Edmonton’s
defensive woes. In previous seasons, Dubnyk had been a steady but
unspectacular netminder for the Oilers, consistently posting a goals
against average in the 2.60 range. Last season, that number spiked to
3.43 and Dubnyk was traded to Nashville in exchange for forward
Matt Hendricks.
After parting ways with Dubnyk, the Oilers tried a handful of
goaltenders but none of them worked. Players like Ben Scrivens, Viktor
Fasth, and Ilya Bryzgalov quickly found out that playing goalie is more
difficult when the defense in front of them can neither block the puck
nor take it away. Only Fasth was able to earn a goals against average
of under 3.00, but in just seven games played. Scrivens is penciled in as
the starter with Fasth as the backup to begin 2014-15, but it’s difficult
to imagine any goalie succeeding on this team unless the defense is
significantly improved.
Power Play
The Oilers have the forwards in place to have a potentially dynamic
power play. Hall, Eberle and Perron are all prolific scorers. Ryan Nugent-
Hopkins is a solid offensive player with the potential to improve greatly.
New arrivals like Benoit Pouliot may be able to bolster the power play
and offense in general right now. With the power play being Edmonton’s
best chance to possess the puck, it should be a situation where their
handful of talented forwards shine.
However, just as Edmonton’s defensemen struggle badly in defense,
the Oilers don’t have many great scorers on the blue line either. Justin
Schultz checks in as the only decent scorer of the group, but even he
only scored 33 points last year. None of the other defensemen was a
significant scorer, with Jeff Petry second among the group with just 17
points. A lack of good blue-line threats has hurt Edmonton’s power play
potential, making this a below-average unit.
Penalty Kill
Surprisingly, the penalty kill was the one area in which the Oilers
ranked average or better by NHL standards. Edmonton killed 82.1
percent of opponents’ power plays in the 2013-14 season, a mark that
ranked 14th in the league. This followed rates of 83.4% in 2012-13 and
82.4 percent in 2011-12, so there
is good reason to believe the
relatively strong performance
was not a fluke.
For the most part, the reason
for Edmonton’s sudden competence
in penalty kill situations seems like
a mystery. One idea is that veterans
like Ryan Smyth (now retired),
Eric Belanger, and Anton Lander
helped shore up the penalty kill
unit on the team. If that’s the case,
Edmonton’s penalty kill could be
in trouble with Lander being the
only player of that group remaining
Jordan Eberle
on the team. Either way, I would
expect this team’s penalty kill to
regress as long as the defense struggles in general.
Prediction
A lack of offensive depth and defensive talent will once again
doom the Oilers to finish well outside of playoff contention.
However, a slight improvement on defense and further experience
for Edmonton’s young talent will help make the Oilers a more
competitive team overall.
Scoreboard
2013 2012 2011 2010 2009
PLAYOFF FINISH DNQ DNQ DNQ DNQ DNQ
REGULAR SEASON 29-44-9 19-22-7 32-40-10 25-45-12 27-47-8
POINT TOTAL 67 45 74 62 62
SHOOTOUT RECORD 4-3 2-3 5-7 2-9 8-6
GOALS SCORED 203 125 212 193 214
GOALS ALLOWED 270 134 239 269 284
POWER PLAY % 17.0 20.1 20.6 14.5 17.3
PENALTY KILL % 82.1 83.4 82.4 77.0 78.0
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